Derby Talk

Derby Talk is a forum for Pinewood Derby, Awana Grand Prix, Kub Kar Rally, Shape N Race Derby, Space Derby, Raingutter Regatta and other similar races where a child and an adult work together to create a race vehicle and a lot of fun and memories

Word is that our District race which is new this year (and being coordinated by a brand new District rep) is going to run the "Box Rules" to "make it fair across the District".
This opens a virtual Pandora's box of options it seems to me.
Opinions?

race#67 wrote:Word is that our District race which is new this year (and being coordinated by a brand new District rep) is going to run the "Box Rules" to "make it fair across the District".
This opens a virtual Pandora's box of options it seems to me.
Opinions?

Are these the rules that come printed on the paper inside the box? Aren't they...extremely sparse?

Pretty sure one can argue that razor wheels are legal with only the box rules. You can lathe the BSA wheels and cut the width all the way down to just the sidewall. I haven't looked at the box rules for a while but that is how it was a few years ago.

I would send the person in charge of the districts the rules for the North Star Council and warn them about what they would be allowing with just the box rules. Just the box rules opens things up so much that the winners will likely be the kids with parents willing to spend the money on light weight wheels. NSC has a ruleset that strikes a good balance between basic wheel and axle mods, addressing the major flaws in the quality of the kit parts, while still restricting light weight wheels. They also allow oil for lubrication, which is actually much cleaner then graphite.

Box rules just say they have to be official BSA wheels and axles. Wheel bearings, bushings and washers are prohibited, but nothing else.
So yeah, pretty open. I have several lathes so that's cool with me but not the right way to run it IMHO.
The best bet is likely Revell axles over the kit axles, since both are 'official', and the Revells are actually round.
I am curious what the hot setup is for wheels. If you razor them I guess you better be riding a rail as the space between the inner rims is going to be much larger than with stock wheels assuming that the width of the hub is left mostly in tact to preserve wheel stability.

I think the hub is shortened some but this is the extreme I was referring to when only following the box rules. These are machined from official BSA wheels:

Showing your district organizer that photo may have more effect as well. Who knows, maybe they're OK with that or don't believe anyone will go that far. Sounds like you have the tools to actually try it if you wanted to. If those are the rules, why not?